Sandy Sugawara, VOA Deputy Director

Sandy Sugawara comes to the Voice of America after playing a leading role in transforming The Washington Post’s newsroom to a data-driven, digital operation.

Sugawara has spent more than three decades in journalism, starting as a UPI reporter and rising to senior management positions at The Washington Post. Most recently, she served for more than three years as managing editor for Trove, a digital news startup owned by The Washington Post/Graham Holdings Company. She developed editorial, engagement and social media strategies and oversaw the Trove editorial team. She also worked closely with technical experts to develop a system that delivered high-quality personalized news to diverse audiences.

Previously, as head of The Post’s Universal News Desk (2009 to 2012), Sugawara helped lead efforts to merge the newspaper’s print and digital operations and to collaborate with the Trove innovation team, formerly WaPo Labs.

A graduate of Wellesley College, Sugawara also served at The Washington Post as assistant managing editor for business. She oversaw coverage during the global financial crisis of 2008 to 2009, with the paper’s business staff winning several journalism awards. Sugawara also supervised coverage of airline security in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, financial and securities fraud, and immigration issues.

As a reporter for The Washington Post, Sugawara spent several years as a Tokyo-based correspondent and covered the Securities and Exchange Commission, telecommunications, government contracting and local politics.

For a downloadable version of Deputy Director Sugawara's photo, click here.